Delay lines are a common component in many contemporary electrical systems, usually microwave systems. Examples that could be mentioned of fields of technology where delay lines are used are radar systems, amplifiers and oscillators.
Most technologies used in delay lines result in bulky components, which are usually not cost-effective and are difficult to integrate with standard semiconductor technologies. Moreover, it is quite desirable for a delay line to be tunable, i.e., to have a delay time which can be altered. In addition, most contemporary tunable delay lines are quite power consuming, which is usually a drawback.